Que Rico

Just in case you are among that miniscule percentage of Americans who, for one stubborn reason or another, refuse to learn any Spanish (or foreign language for that matter), then we probably need to tell you that the Spanish word queso means cheese in English. We also must say that “es muy importante que amplies tus horizontes!”

These crisps taste like……wait for it………….cheese. Not necessarily like cheddar, and certainly not like nacho, but simply C – H – double-E – S – E: cheese. These Queso flavored crisps are the third rendition from the “highly debatable” Lay’s Stax QUE RICO series. We say “highly debatable” because, like we told you in our Que Rico Limon review, we are almost certain that “rico” is the most popular adjective in the Spanish language for describing food. It just doesn’t seem to matter, the food may be savory or sweet, it may be good or bad. Any way you swallow it, the food will be described as “rico”. So, that being said, anytime we hear or see the word “rico” used to describe food, we simply don’t know what to think. All we can do is smile and hope for the best.

These Queso flavor chips fall somewhere in the middle between the other two Que Rico Stax. They are not quite as bad as the Que Rico Limon crisps, but nowhere near as good as the Adobadas. The cheese seasoning is very cheesy, and there is also the most miniscule amount of tangy heat if you really pay attention (and especially if you lick the seasoning, like we do). As always, Lay’s Stax are perfectly suitable compressed potato boats for delivery crunchy saltiness into our mouths, but like we always say, we still do prefer Pringles in the battle of the canisters. There is just something about the Stax thickness that we don’t like as much as the Pringles light and crispy, potato crisps. They are simply more rico.

As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.

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Adobo: is fundamentally a sauce consisting of dried and pureed chiles, with oil and vinegar (sort of similar to a hot sauce), but like so many other sauces, there are countless versions of Adobo throughout the world, with even countless more ingredient options.

We assume that since these Lay’s are displaying the Sabritas logo that they are demonstrating a Mexican style version of Adobo sauce, and as far as we know, Mexican versions seem to be synonymous with Chipotle chiles. The photo on this can of crisps seems to be showing us a jalapeno pepper (which technically is used to create the Chipotle chile peppers in our defense), along with a tomato.

We like this flavor well enough. We found it to be a quite a bit more complex than we expected. We tasted smoky chiles, mixed with sweet and tangy tomatoes, mixed with pungent onions and garlic, mixed with a bit of acidic vinegar notes. Dare we say that there was even a tiny bit of spicy heat in the far, far background….? We’re pretty sure we felt it tickling at the back’s of our throats.

Que Rico Adobadas is definitely one of Chip Review’s favorite flavors we’ve seen from Lay’s Stax. And, it is most certainly MAS RICO than the Que Rico Limon flavored crisps we reviewed a few weeks ago.

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To us at Chip Review, these new Lay’s Stax are basically a joke, for a couple of reasons. Let us explain.

A couple of us from Chip Review spent a significant amount of time in Chile a few years back, and in Chile, the national language is Spanish. While in Chile we heard the word “rico” used more often to describe Chilean cuisine than Brad and Angelina have been referred to as “Brangelina”. We are almost certain that “rico” is the only adjective that Chileans are allowed to use to describe food. The food can be savory, or sweet, and it can be good, or bad. Any way you swallow it, the food will be described as “rico”. We cannot be certain this is true for all Spanish speaking Latin American countries, but we feel it is for Chile. So, that being said, anytime we hear, or see, the word “rico” used to describe food, we bust out laughing……

The other reason we feel these crisps are a joke is how unnaturally sour they are. Everyone who tried one of these chips at Chip Review puckered their lips, and called them absurdly sour. But, limes are sour you say….? Yes, we understand that, but the acidic sour zing that these crisps possessed did not taste so much like fresh, citrus-y limes, so much as they tasted like tongue-tingling, sweet and sour candy…..Simply unnatural, and un-tasty.

Also, can we just reiterate the fact again that certain flavors are meant to go with certain chips, and “lime” is meant to be used with corn tortilla chips, not potato chips. The corn and lime flavor combination is a Latin American classic. In fact, some may call it “MUY RICO!!!!”

As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.